54 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 211. 



also in Gravesend Bay in October, by Mr. 

 W. I. De Nyse, who informs me that the 

 roundish black spot in the soft dorsal re- 

 mains fixed under all conditions, while the 

 baud extending from it to the anal fin 

 sometimes disappears. The whole body of 

 the fish at times appears to have an orange 

 tinge, but at other times it is gray. 



The rabbit-fish {Lagocephalus Icevigatus) 

 was not seen until October 14th, when a 

 large individual was received from a pound 

 near Clam Pond Cove. This was the only 

 one obtained during the season. 



The small- mouthed flounder {Citharich- 

 thys microstomus) -vfus found in and near Fire 

 Island Inlet on September 30th and Octo- 

 ber 11th. Ten individuals were taken, of 

 which the largest is about four inches long. 

 In 1890 this species was more abundant 

 and occurred as far west as the Blue Point 

 Life-Saviug Station. In 1898 all but one 

 of the recorded specimens were collected in 

 a single haul of the seine. 



The following record will serve as, an il- 

 lustration of the sudden changes occurring 

 during the fall migrations : On October 11th, 

 with southerly winds shifting to southwest- 

 erly and strong, two hauls were made with 

 the gill net and three with the twenty- 

 fathom seine ; the fishes obtained were 

 M'ugil cephalus, Mugil eurema, Alutera schcepfii, 

 Prionotus earolinus, Prionotus strigatus, Me- 

 nidia notata, Fundulus majalis, Fundulus het- 

 eroolitus, Tautoga onitis young, Tylosurus 

 marinus, Spheroides maeidatus, Siphostoina fus- 

 cum, Hippocampus hudsonius, OitharicJithys 

 microstomus, Pseudopleiironedes americanus, 

 Bothus maculatus, Stenotonius chrysops young, 

 Synodus fcctens, Menticirrhus saxatilk, Centro- 

 pristes striatus young. To these were added, 

 on the same day, at Clam Pond Cove, several 

 miles farther east, Palinuriehthys pereiformis, 

 Pomatomus saltatrix, Opsanus tau, Brevoortia 

 tyrannus young, and Bairdiella chrysura. 

 On October 17th we worked over the 

 same ground, the wind blowing from the 



northeast, but gradually moderating. The 

 gill net was hauled, but caught nothing. 

 An orange filefish (Alutera schcepfii) was 

 speared. We then looked around east and 

 west along tlie shore and saw no fish ex- 

 cept Fundulus majalis and Menidia notata. 

 It should be noted, however, that on the 

 same date a pound near Clam Pond Cove 

 furnished us with Chcetodon ocellatus, Midlus 

 auratus, Flops saurus, Caranx crysos, Raia 

 oceUata, Raia erinacea, Alutera sehoepfii, 

 ' Mustelus caiiis and Stenotovms chrysops, 'whil& 

 the saurel ( Trachurus trachurus) was pres- 

 ent in Clam Pond Cove on the preceding 

 day. 



A large reflector lantern used for ' fire- 

 lighting ' eels at night was found useful for 

 the capture of other fishes and for studying 

 their attitudes and movements in the water. 

 On the night of September 16th the lantern 

 was held over the side of our sloop in Clam 

 Pond Cove, and it attracted to us silver gar 

 ( Tylosurus marinus) , killifish ( Fundulus maja- 

 lis and F. heterocUtus) , silverside {Menidia 

 notata), half beak {Hyporhamphus roberti), 

 annelids {Nereis sp.), crabs, shrimp, beetles 

 and moths. By means of a dip net it was 

 easy to take any of the species. On the 

 night of October 13th we were on the south 

 shore of Great South Bay near Horsefoot 

 Creek, spearing eels with the help of the 

 lantern. 



We took about twenty pounds of large 

 eels, and nearly all of them were in very 

 shallow water, close to the shore, hiding 

 in the grass or on the sand bottom. One 

 large eel, at the mouth of Horsefoot Creek, 

 was standing on its head, boring for worms 

 when it was speared. The silver gars and 

 silvers! des played around the light, follow- 

 ing it persistently in a semi-dazed fashion. 

 Killifish, toadfish and many crabs were seen 

 resting on the bottom, the toadfish some- 

 times lying on its side, with its tail curled 

 toward its head. Young bluefish were seen 

 darting out of the way occasionally. Sev- 



